Miners' Blood
Cliff
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-kohn/miners-blood-on-sarah-pal_b_535780.html
"Miners' Blood on Sarah Palin's Hands"
[
If Sarah Palin were president, there would be more dead miners in America. At a
time when Palin, the Tea Partiers and other ultra-conservatives are calling for
the destruction of government comes a sad reminder of just how much government
is needed and just how out of touch -- and irresponsible -- their
anti-government tirades are.
The current anti-tax agenda is nothing more than new lipstick on the old
conservative pig of a plan to kill government by cutting taxes and thus
"starving the beast," as Grover Norquist infamously said. Tea Party posters say
"Taxed Enough Already" even though our fiscal crises were caused not by too high
taxes (which were actually cut for the middle class) but by lowering taxes on
the super-rich under Bush. Sarah Palin has absurdly blamed government regulation
for causing the Great Depression and suggested the solution to our current
crisis -- one caused by deregulating the banks -- is less regulation, not more.
Texas Governor Rick Perry said the biggest problem we face as a nation is "Big
Daddy government."
Tell that to the families of the Upper Big Branch mine.
Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship called mine safety regulations "as silly as
global warming." In 2008, Massey paid a $20 million fine to the Environmental
Protection Agency, and that same year, a Massey subsidiary, the Aracoma Coal
Company, pled guilty to safety violations and agreed to $4.2 million in civil
penalties and criminal fines connected to the 2006 deaths of two miners in a
fire.
Currently, Massey owes $7.6 million in safety violation fines, of which only
$2.3 million has been paid. Last month alone, the Upper Big Branch mine was
cited for 53 safety violations by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health
Administration, many for inadequate ventilation of dust and methane gas and
improperly maintained escape passages. Last year, the number of citations
against the mine more than doubled, to over 500, from 2008, and the penalties
proposed against the mine more than tripled.
Yet the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration was unable to adequately
follow-up on enforcing penalties on these existing regulations. Why? Budget
cuts.
Sarah Palin and her pals would cut federal funding for safety enforcement even
more, driven by their coziness with corrupt big business and an ideological
narrow-mindedness that the "free market" should be left as free as possible.
That includes free to kill. ......
]
FatterDumber& Happier Moe
The mines need to start hiring illegal immigrants. Bust those unions
and get the price of energy down to where we can get this country back
on the road to prosperity.
Shall not be infringed
wrote:
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-kohn/miners-blood-on-sarah-pal_b_...
> "Miners' Blood on Sarah Palin's Hands"
You should have called it "Blood Coal" and tried to tie in some of the
emotion o the movie Blood Diamond.
In Ohio the mines are inspected by state government.
Kirk Gordon
To accept this argument, you have to believe three things:
1. That if the government had more money it would spend wisely
2. That government regulations are well crafted, and regulators are
skilled and dilligent enough to make a positive difference
3. That there are no better ways than government oversight to make
mines (or any other workplace) safe
I don't believe any of those.
What Sarah Palin would or wouldn't do is unimportant. What matters
is that we've again taken a serious, painful, and complex question and
buried it in slogans and bullshit, because that's easier than wondering
how to do anything that actually matters. Palin doesn't have a clue,
and neither do the "spend till you're dead" liberals.
Until Western culture learns to have reasoned debates, and to think
about how to solve problems, rather than constantly trying to find
advantage in them, we're all at risk every day.
A deadly explosion in a coal mine is a terrible thing. The
self-inflicted implosion of an entire culture is worse. But we're doing
it anyway.
KG
Cliff
So preventing the dead is not wise?
>2. That government regulations are well crafted, and regulators are
>skilled and dilligent enough to make a positive difference
They also have to be rapidly & promptly enforced.
bushco gutted as much regulation as possible it seems.
This is just one more example to add along with securities
& banks ....
>3. That there are no better ways than government oversight to make
>mines (or any other workplace) safe
>
> I don't believe any of those.
And we all know how well the mine owners regulated themselves in the past,
right?
> What Sarah Palin would or wouldn't do is unimportant.
Unless she someday does it.
Lots of morons left in the US.
>What matters
>is that we've again taken a serious, painful, and complex question and
>buried it in slogans and bullshit, because that's easier than wondering
>how to do anything that actually matters. Palin doesn't have a clue,
>and neither do the "spend till you're dead" liberals.
I remind you that the rethugs ran up the debts & spent 3+ trillion on
wars based on lies, etc.
I also remind you the the dems usually have to pay down those
very same debts.
But the eonomy does better too, after many of the stupids
are out of power.
> Until Western culture learns to have reasoned debates,
Based on endless winger lies or backwards
from their desired conclusions?
>and to think
>about how to solve problems, rather than constantly trying to find
>advantage in them, we're all at risk every day.
>
> A deadly explosion in a coal mine is a terrible thing. The
>self-inflicted implosion of an entire culture is worse. But we're doing
>it anyway.
>
>KG
Those brief opines were almost painfully short .... for Kirk <G>.
--
Cliff
Cliff
>On Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:17:06 -0700 (PDT), raamman <raa...@gmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>>
>>> Sarah Palin and her pals would cut federal funding for safety enforcement even
>>> more, driven by their coziness with corrupt big business and an ideological
>>> narrow-mindedness that the "free market" should be left as free as possible.
>>> That includes free to kill. ......
>>> ]
>>
>>No arguement from me on that, I absolutely agree 100%- there is always
>>a flipside to the coin, and this is a prime example.
>
>
>So you guys have cites to prove that Palin would cut safety spending?
>
>Feel free to trot it out so we all can look at it.
>
>Use all the white space necessary.
>
>Failure to do so will simply prove you both are fucking morons.
>
>Gunner
gummer always loves to take lies & stupidity to new levels ...
--
Cliff
Shall not be infringed
wrote:
> On Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:52:01 -0700, Gunner Asch <gunnera...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:17:06 -0700 (PDT), raamman <raam...@gmail.com>
> >wrote:
>
> >>> Sarah Palin and her pals would cut federal funding for safety enforcement even
> >>> more, driven by their coziness with corrupt big business and an ideological
> >>> narrow-mindedness that the "free market" should be left as free as possible.
> >>> That includes free to kill. ......
> >>> ]
>
> >>No arguement from me on that, I absolutely agree 100%- there is always
> >>a flipside to the coin, and this is a prime example.
>
> >So you guys have cites to prove that Palin would cut safety spending?
>
> >Feel free to trot it out so we all can look at it.
>
> >Use all the white space necessary.
>
> >Failure to do so will simply prove you both are fucking morons.
>
> >Gunner
>
> gummer always loves to take lies & stupidity to new levels ...
> --
> Cliff
I'm reminded of your every posting to this group.
Shall not be infringed
wrote:
> > What Sarah Palin would or wouldn't do is unimportant.
>
> Unless she someday does it.
> Lots of morons left in the US.
Cliffie, I really don't think 0bama voters will go for her.
Cliff
So did you find those "WMDs" yet?
--
Cliff
Cliff
About 10% of the teabaggers might vote for her.
You know teabaggers, right?